Keeping up with the feds: The provincial response to Canada's Species at Risk Act

Abstract

This thesis examines how the threat of federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction over natural resource management which accompanied the development and passage of Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) has impacted provincial legislation and policies aimed at protecting endangered species. SARA's safety net provisions constitute the mechanism by which Ottawa may act unilaterally to provide effective protection for species at risk and their habitats where a provincial or territorial government fails to do so. The federal government's historical reluctance to use similar clauses in other environmental legislation suggests that the true value of the safety net is the degree to which threat alone is sufficient to motivate provincial action. A review of the statutory and policy changes undertaken by the provinces reveals the extent to which the development of SARA and its safety net has spurred provincial governments to provide more effective protection for endangered species.